Invite to Oct. 5th Cape Coral open house on 2 bike lane extension proposals

Cape Coral residents and cyclists who ride in the Cape, especially in the Beach Parkway and Agualinda Blvd. areas) are encouraged to attend this open house on Wednesday, October 5th at 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Oasis Middle School (3507 Oasis Blvd.). You can drop in anytime during that 2 hour period and review the Cape Coral City's plans, ask questions of the staff and provide comments about the need for these bike lanes.

The open house is the next step in the process that began in May when the SW Cape Coral Neighborhood Association (SWCCNA) presented its request for these bike lanes to the City's Transportation Advisory Committee. The Traffic Engineer recommended to the TAC that these two bike lanes be approved. The open house provides an opportunity for public input focused on this specific SWCCNA request. (No other bike lane requests are pending before the TAC at this time.) A summary of the outcome of this open house will be presented to the TAC, which will then submit its recommendation to the full City Council for a vote.

While these two proposed bike lane extensions are only 1.1 miles, they fill gaps in our system which, once filled, will provide over 20 miles of connected biking facilities, extending in the north from the bike path along Veterans Parkway to Cape Harbour and Eldorado Parkway in the south. Having connected and accessible biking and walking facilities throughout Lee County is the goal of the Countywide Bicycle Pedestrian Master Plan that was adopted by the Lee MPO Board(with representatives from all local jurisdictions in Lee County) on May 20, 2011.

In light of the 9/18/11 News-Press story [unavailable online] about this open house, with the provocative and misleading headlines of "bike lanes potential battleground," it is important that supporters of these 2 bike lane extensions make their voices heard by attending this open house.

For background: Click here to read the blog story on the June 17th meeting; and click here to read the post on the May 18th meeting.